The St. Catherine University hockey team used a series sweep of St. Olaf College a week ago to remain alive in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) playoff race, but knew it would need another two-game sweep this weekend – this time against a Concordia College squad that already punched its postseason ticket – in order to have a chance at qualifying on the final weekend of the season. The Wildcats took care of business on their end Friday evening as they used a three-goal third period to stun the Cobbers with a 5-3 decision at Drake Arena in St. Paul.
Despite coming up with a much-needed win, the Wildcats were officially eliminated from the post-season picture when Bethel University defeated Gustavus Adolphus College 4-2. "What a solid game from our leaders," said Head Coach
Brad Marshall. "We really wanted to focus on us and what we could control. It's too bad tomorrow is for pride and thanking our seniors."
The Wildcats' had to come from behind for their sixth MIAC win of the season as the Cobbers took an early 2-0 lead in the first period. First, Jess Nelson gave the Cobbers a 1-0 lead just six minutes in when she beat
Abbi White (Wyoming, Minn./Forest Lake) who made two initial saves before the puck crossed the line. Then, Madison Gendreau skated in to the Wildcat zone and fired a shot that was tipped in by the reigning MIAC Athlete-of-the-Week Kelsey Vandegrift just over two minutes later.
Facing a two-goal deficit early, the Wildcats continued to match the Cobbers shot-for-shot in the first period until
Jordan Solheim (Thief River Falls, Minn./Thief River Falls) scored her third goal in the last two games when she beat Andrea Klug high stick-side at the 16:31 mark on a set up from
Megan Killmer (Savage, Minn./Burnsville) and
Bailey Rasmussen (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids).
Down just 2-1 heading into the second, the Wildcats knew they had they upper hand and were fortunate enough to get a power play opportunity early. Just 1:43 in, senior
Shelby Salmonsen (Faribault, Minn./Faribault) scored her second goal in as many games when she tipped in a shot from
Randi Fabsits (Tinley Park, Ill./Victor J. Andrew) to tie the game up at two a piece.
The Cobbers' top line began to take over and regain control of the game forcing the Wildcats to take several penalties which eventually proved costly when the league's leading scorer in Gendreau beat White on an unassisted tally to take a 3-2 lead into the third.
The Wildcats weren't ready to give up, though, as they found themselves with a 5-on-3 advantage within the first four minutes of the period. Finally, Fabsits broke free and buried a loose puck in front amid a scramble to tie the game up 3-3 at the 4:17 mark.
The two teams battle for the eight minutes until the persistence of
Alex Pederson (Park Rapids, Minn./Park Rapids) finally paid off when she passed a puck in front that
Maddy Zastrow (Greendale, Wis./Greendale) buried as she was falling to the ice for the eventual game winner and the 4-3 lead at 13:03. Killmer then added a fifth goal with 1:05 to play to seal the win.
"Killmer, Rasmussen, Fabsits and Solheim all really stepped up tonight," said Marshall. "I also think White played better as the game went on. She made some key saves when they had power play chances in the third period."
White picked up her fifth win of the season after kicking away 27 shots on goal from the Cobbers. This was Solheim's second two-point game in a row with an assist on Fabsits' tally, and she and Killmer both move to a team-leading eight goals on the season. Killmer holds down the team lead in points with 16, while Solheim is second with 14 and Rasmussen's two assists put her third with 11. Fabsits' two-point night pushes her to double digits in points for the first time in her career.
With the win, the Wildcats move to 6-7-4 in the MIAC with 16 points and 8-11-5 overall. The Wildcats will close out the 2014-15 season Saturday in another home game against the Cobbers Saturday with puck drop slated for 2 p.m. The Wildcat seniors will also be honored prior to the start of the contest.
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